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Perceptual bisection in rats: the effects of physostigmine, scopolamine and pirenzepine.

The effects of cholinergic drugs on three different perceptual bisection tasks were studied in rats. Physostigmine (0.056-0.56 mg/kg), a reversible anticholinesterase, produced dose-dependent decrements in discriminability (A'), but did not affect the bisection point (BP) in visual duration, auditory duration, and auditory intensity bisection tasks. This finding is consistent with results previously obtained in an auditory duration bisection task with an irreversible anticholinesterase, diisopropyl phosphofluoridate. Scopolamine (0.075-0.422 mg/kg), a muscarinic cholinergic-receptor antagonist, produced dose-dependent decrements in both A' and BP in visual and auditory duration bisection tasks. The behavioral antagonism between physostigmine (0.56 mg/kg) and scopolamine (0.075-0.237 mg/kg) was studied in the visual and auditory duration bisection tasks. The BP was not affected by physostigmine alone or in combination with scopolamine, except at the largest dose of scopolamine, which produced a reliable decrement in the BP. A', however, was equally decreased by physostigmine alone and all combinations of physostigmine and scopolamine. Pirenzepine (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg), a selective high-affinity M1 muscarinic antagonist, had no effect on A' or the BP in the duration bisection tasks, suggesting changes in perception produced by muscarinic antagonists do not involve the M1 receptor subtype. The similar drug effects in different sensory modalities (visual and auditory) and perceptual systems (subjective duration and loudness) suggest that cholinergic drugs may affect perceptual mechanisms responsible for sensory coding, such as the output of a neural generator.

Animals↗

Mate preference and avoidance in female rats following treatment with scopolamine.

The effects of the muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine, on the behavior of female rats in a mate preference test were determined. Ovariectomized rats were primed with sufficient doses of estradiol benzoate (0.25 micrograms for 3 days) and progesterone (500 micrograms) to activate full sexual receptivity. Beginning 15 min after intraperitoneal injection of saline (0.4 ml/kg) or scopolamine hydrochloride (1 mg/kg), females were tested in an arena divided into three compartments. Females treated with scopolamine clearly avoided a compartment occupied by a gonadally intact stimulus male, instead preferring a compartment occupied by a castrated male or an empty neutral compartment. Direct contact with an intact male was a critical feature of this avoidance because females treated with scopolamine did not avoid intact males that were confined within a chamber that prevented physical contact between the male and female. Results indicate that female rats treated with scopolamine avoid direct physical contact with sexually active males, possibly due to an alteration in sexual motivation and/or the aversive nature of this interaction.

Animals↗

The effects and interactions of scopolamine, physostigmine and methamphetamine on human memory.

Seventy college age subjects learned and recalled a series of word lists prior to being injected with methamphetamine (0.2 mg/kg or 0.3 mg/kg), scopolamine (8 microgram/kg), or a placebo. Following the injection subjects were tested for their free recall and recognition of the words and they completed a short-term digit recall task. Subjects who had previously received scopolamine were next injected with either methamphetamine (0.2 mg/kg or 0.3 mg/kg), physostigmine (32 microgram/kg), or placebo, while other subjects received a placebo injection. The above memory procedure was then repeated with a second series of word lists. In addition, subjective feelings were measured with a questionnaire. Scopolamine and methamphetamine did not affect recall of information learned prior to injection. Scopolamine did, however, impair performance in both the digit recall task and in the second series of memory tests. Physostigmine and methamphetamine alleviated most of the memory deficits and sedation produced by scopolamine. Methamphetamine alone produced subjective arousal and a small improvement in recall of words learned after injection and a large increase in incorrect responding.

Adolescent↗

Task-dependent development of tolerance to scopolamine.

Rats were chronically treated with once daily injections of either 0.5 mg/kg scopolamine hydrochloride or isotonic saline for 21 days. When spontaneous locomotor activity or acquisition of active avoidance in a two-way shuttle box were measured at 48 hours after the cessation of chronic treatment, no differences were observed between the two chronically treated groups. Tolerance to scopolamine's locomotor stimulatory effects was evident as the increase in locomotor activity following acute treatment was smaller in the group which had been chronically treated with scopolamine. On the other hand, acutely administered scopolamine facilitated the acquisition of active avoidance responding to an equal degree in both chronically treated groups. The reasons which may account for this task-dependent tolerance development to scopolamine are discussed.

Animals↗

An evaluation of the mechanism of scopolamine-induced impairment in two passive avoidance protocols.

The effects of several doses of the centrally-acting muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine, on subsequent learning and memory were examined using two versions of a standard light versus dark passive avoidance paradigm. The first protocol was employed primarily to examine the effects of scopolamine on the acquisition component of learning and memory as subject performance was measured during five successive (repeated) training trials. The second protocol employed a one-trial twenty-four hour retention task in which subjects were given one training trial followed by one testing trial twenty-four hours later. This latter test encompasses acquisition, retention, and recall components of learning and memory. Dose response studies indicated an effective dose range of 0.4-1.2 mg/kg with 0.8 mg/kg producing maximal performance decrement. Differential scopolamine treatment demonstrated that the drug's primary effect was on the acquisition component only under the present experimental protocols. Furthermore, scopolamine was not found to produce state-dependent learning. Animals administered scopolamine before training and testing failed to perform better than animals receiving pre-training administration only.

Animals↗

Interactive effects of D1 and D2 agonists with scopolamine on radial-arm maze performance.

Pharmacological blockade of muscarinic cholinergic (ACh) receptors has been found to impair choice accuracy in a variety of tasks including the radial-arm maze. The cognitive impairment caused by the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine is reversed by the dopaminergic (DA) antagonist haloperidol as well as the selective D1 antagonist SCH 23390. In the current study, interactions were studied between scopolamine and selective agonists of D1 (SCH 38393) and D2 (quinpirole) receptors. Surprisingly, the D1 agonist SKF 38393 was found to significantly alleviate the scopolamine-induced choice accuracy deficit. In contrast, the D2 agonist quinpirole was not found to significantly alter the effects of scopolamine on choice accuracy but did have supra-additive effects of increasing choice latency. Both the D1 agonist SKF 38393 and the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 have been found to reverse the choice accuracy deficit caused by scopolamine and the deficit resulting from lesions of the medial projection from the basal forebrain to the cortex. Possible mechanisms for these effects are discussed.

2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-ben↗

The effects of haloperidol, scopolamine, and MK-801 on amphetamine-induced increases in ascorbic and uric acid as determined by voltammetry in vivo.

Amphetamine (which enhances dopaminergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic activity) increases release of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) in the caudate nucleus. In this study, linear sweep voltammetry with carbon past electrodes was used to investigate the effects of haloperidol (a DA receptor blocker), scopolamine (a muscarinic receptor blocker), and MK-801 (an NMDA receptor blocker) alone and in combination on amphetamine-induced increases in AA and UA in the caudate nucleus. Both scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg, IP) and MK-801 (0.5 mg/kg, IP) significantly reduced amphetamine-induced increases in AA. Also, scopolamine did not affect MK-801-induced reductions of amphetamine-induced increases in AA. Unexpectedly, a subthreshold dose of haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg, IP) potentiated the ability of scopolamine to block amphetamine-induced increases in AA. Therefore, the data suggest that acetylcholine release and subsequent binding to cholinergic receptors in the caudate, are components of amphetamine-induced increases in AA. In addition, scopolamine modulated haloperidol-induced reductions of amphetamine-induced increases in release of UA. Thus, our data demonstrate that cholinergic and dopaminergic systems may interact to control release of UA.

Amphetamine↗

Acute and chronic arecoline: effects on a scopolamine-induced deficit in complex maze learning.

These studies tested the effect of arecoline, a nonselective muscarinic agonist, administered either acutely or by chronic peripheral infusion via osmotic minipumps, on a scopolamine-induced deficit in a Stone (14 unit) T-maze task in rats. Scopolamine alone (0.125-1.0 mg/kg, IP) dose-dependently impaired maze acquisition, increasing maze run-times and to a lesser extent, the number of errors committed. Neither acute administration of arecoline (5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg, IP), when tested against a deficit induced by scopolamine (0.25 mg/kg, IP), nor chronic arecoline administration (30 and 50 mg/kg per 24 h), when tested against a deficit induced by scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg), were able to ameliorate the decrements in maze performance. In fact, the higher dose of arecoline (50 mg/kg per 24 h) infused over 10 days potentiated the scopolamine-induced deficit, with respect to latency. These data indicate that dose selection is of great importance when employing arecoline in tests of learning and memory and that the influence of the method of administration of arecoline on the behavioural outcome warrants further study.

Animals↗

Scopolamine induces recovery of shuttle box avoidance behavior after frontal cortex ablation.

The learning and reversal of shuttle box active avoidance behavior in animals with a bilateral frontal cortex ablation was investigated during and after scopolamine or pilocarpine treatment. Scopolamine facilitated the performance of the avoidance task in normal animals and in those with frontal cortex lesions and also increased the number of intertrial responses, while pilocarpine increased the deleterious effects of the lesions. Furthermore, in the absence of scopolamine, the animals previously treated with the drug showed that its beneficial effects persisted while the number of intertrial responses were no longer increased. The results indicate that the beneficial effects of scopolamine treatment on active avoidance behavior are independent from the effects observed on intertrial activity since only the former are observed after drug withdrawal. Therefore, scopolamine treatment seems to induce a long lasting recovery process in frontal cortex ablated animals.

Animals↗

Continuous ICV infusion of scopolamine impairs sustained attention of rhesus monkeys.

Systemic administration of anticholinergic agents impairs cognitive performance in animals and man. The anticholinergic, scopolamine, has profound effects on peripheral and central cholinergic function, making interpretation of its effects on cognitive performance difficult. To circumvent this problem, scopolamine was administered directly to the central nervous system of rhesus monkeys using a subcutaneously implanted infusion pump connected to a cannulae directed toward the right lateral ventricle. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of scopolamine (0.004, 0.012, 12.5, and 40.0 micrograms/kg/h) produced a dose-dependent decrease in the number of responses on a continuous performance task. Response decrements produced by scopolamine were seen mainly during the last half of the test session and at short stimulus durations. These data suggest that scopolamine produces a deficit in sustained attention or slowing of information processing that is mediated through direct central cholinergic blockade in the rhesus monkey.

Animals↗

Scopolamine differentially affects memory of 8- and 16-month-old rats in the double Y-maze.

The present study investigated the effects of scopolamine on working and reference memory in the same rats at 8 and 16 months of age. Rats were trained in the double Y-maze until a criterion of > or = 88% correct was reached on both memory components. Doses of scopolamine (0.1, 0.4, 0.8 mg/kg for rats at 8 months; 0.05, 0.1, 0.4 mg/kg for rats at 16 months) were administered in a counterbalanced order 30 min before test sessions which also included delays of 0, 5, or 30 s prior to both memory components. Results showed that at both ages the 0.1 mg/kg scopolamine dose selectively impaired working memory, whereas higher doses impaired both working and reference memory. Delays selectively decreased working memory choice accuracy and enhanced the effect of scopolamine. Rats at 16 months performed less well on both reference and working memory and showed greater impairments with scopolamine and delays. The present findings support the hypothesis that a decrease in cholinergic neurotransmission contributes to age-related memory deficits.

Aging↗

Characterization of the effects of scopolamine on the habituation of exploratory activity: differential effects of oxotremorine and physostigmine.

1. Habituation was regarded as a difference between exploratory activity measured first (session 1) and that measured second (session 2) in a novel environment. 2. Scopolamine (1.0 mg/kg) significantly increased the horizontal activity in sessions 1 and 2 when administered prior to session 1, resulting in the impairment of habituation. 3. Haloperidol (0.2 mg/kg) inhibited scopolamine-induced hypermotility in session 1, but it did not inhibit the scopolamine-induced impairment of habituation in session 2. 4. The direct cholinergic agonist oxotremorine (0.03 mg/kg), unlike the cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine, significantly inhibited the scopolamine-induced impairment of habituation in the horizontal and vertical activities. 5. These results suggest that the direct stimulation of cholinergic receptors is more effective for scopolamine-induced amnesia than the indirect stimulation of cholinergic receptors by cholinesterase inhibitors in the habituation task.

Amnesia↗

Effects of the cholinesterase inhibitors donepezil and metrifonate on scopolamine-induced impairments in the spatial cone field orientation task in rats.

The aim of these experiments was to assess whether the clinically validated cognition enhancers donepezil (Aricept, E2020) and metrifonate antagonize scopolamine-induced deficits in the cone field, a complex spatial discrimination task. The cone field task allows measurement of the effects of experimental manipulations on working and reference memory (WM and RM), search strategies, and on the speed and latency to execute the task. The effects of a single administration of donepezil (0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 mg kg(-1), p.o.) and metrifonate (30, 60, and 120 mg kg(-1), p.o.) were investigated in adult Harlan-Wistar rats trained to a stable level of performance and pretreated with scopolamine (0.5 mg kg(-1), i.p. 30 min before training). Scopolamine impaired WM without inducing overt non-cognitive side-effects. Donepezil did not antagonize the scopolamine-induced deficits, whereas metrifonate antagonized the WM deficits at the dose of 60 mg kg(-1), but not at 30 or 120 mg kg(-1). Thus, a cholinesterase inhibitor with proven clinical efficacy can antagonize scopolamine-induced spatial memory deficits. The cone field would be a useful component of a behavioral screening battery to test the effects of putative cognition enhancers.

Animals↗

Fatal Datura poisoning: identification of atropine and scopolamine by high performance liquid chromatography/photodiode array/mass spectrometry.

A forensic method comprising solid phase extraction and HPLC analysis was developed for the detection and confirmation of atropine and scopolamine, the main toxic alkaloids of Datura stramonium and Datura ferox. This method allowed the direct coupling of an electrospray (ZMD) mass selective detector to the HPLC system. Under these conditions, atropine and scopolamine were well separated from other components and detected on the PDA (LOD = 1 microg/ml) and ZMD (LOD(atropine) = 10 pg/ml; LOD(scopolamine) = 100 pg/ml) detectors. Four geographically isolated populations of each of D. stramonium and D. ferox were analysed for seed alkaloids and it was found that the two species were diagnostically different in their atropine-scopolamine ratios. The optimised HPLC method was used to analyse three viscera samples of an adult Caucasian male whose death was ascribed to a fatal heart attack. Atropine and scopolamine were detected in the stomach and its contents, which contained Datura seeds. The chemical profile of the seeds found in the stomach contents was similar to those from four geographically different D. ferox plants.

Adult↗

Uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymer for atropine and its application to the determination of atropine and scopolamine in pharmaceutical preparations containing Scopolia extract.

A uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for atropine has been prepared. The MIP was prepared using 2-(trifluoromethyl) acrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively, by a multi-step swelling and thermal polymerization method. The selectivity factor, which is defined as the ratio of the retention factors (k) on the molecularly imprinted and non-imprinted polymers, k(imprinted)/k(non-imprinted), was 2.2 for atropine on the MIP. The obtained MIP was applied for the determination of tropane alkaloids (atropine and scopolamine) in a commercial gastrointestinal drug by a column-switching HPLC system, consisting of an MIP material as a pre-column, and a conventional cation-exchange analytical column. An interference peak was observed at the retention time of atropine derived from pre-column. However, since the peak area was less than 0.5% the peak area of atropine of a standard solution under the analytical conditions of this study (0.2 microg of atropine was loaded), this interference was negligible in the determination of atropine. On the other hand, no interference peak was observed at the retention time of scopolamine. Calibration curves of atropine and scopolamine showed good linearity in the range of 0.02-0.9 microg/ml (r=0.9999) and 0.003-0.09 microg/ml (r=0.9998), respectively. The mean recoveries of atropine and scopolamine from a placebo pharmaceutical preparation sample were 98.9 and 99.9%, respectively. The intra-day precision (measured by relative standard deviation, R.S.D. (%)) of both ingredients was less than 2.0%. The optimized column-switching system was applied successfully to the determination of atropine and scopolamine in a commercial gastrointestinal drug.

Acrylates↗

ESP-102, a standardized combined extract of Angelica gigas, Saururus chinensis and Schizandra chinensis, significantly improved scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice.

We assessed the effects of oral treatments of ESP-102, a standardized combined extract of Angelica gigas, Saururus chinensis and Schizandra chinensis, on learning and memory deficit. The cognition-enhancing effect of ESP-102 was investigated in scopolamine-induced (1 mg/kg body weight, s.c.) amnesic mice with both passive avoidance and Morris water maze performance tests. Acute oral treatment (single administration prior to scopolamine treatment) of mice with ESP-102 (doses in the range of 10 to 100 mg/kg body weight) significantly reduced scopolamine-induced memory deficits in the passive avoidance performance test. Another noteworthy result included the fact that prolonged oral daily treatments of mice with much lower amounts of ESP-102 (1 and 10 mg/kg body weight) for ten days reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficits. In the Morris water maze performance test, both acute and prolonged oral treatments with ESP-102 (single administration of 100 mg/kg body weight or prolonged daily administration of 1 and 10 mg/kg body weight for ten days, respectively, significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced memory deficits as indicated by the formation of long-term and/or short-term spatial memory. In addition, we investigated the effects of ESP-102 on neurotoxicity induced by amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta25-35) or glutamate in primary cultured cortical neurons of rats. Pretreatment of cultures with ESP-102 (0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mug/ml) significantly protected neurons from neurotoxicity induced by either glutamate or Abeta25-35. These results suggest that ESP-102 may have some protective characteristics against neuronal cell death and cognitive impairments often observed in Alzheimer's disease, stroke, ischemic injury and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

Scopolamine-induced amnesia can be prevented by heat shock pretreatment in rats.

The current study used the passive avoidance test to examine whether heat shock pretreatment has an effect on the memory impairment induced by scopolamine. Heat shock protein (HSP) 72 overexpression was detected in different brain structures in rats 16 h after heat shock treatment, but not in rats receiving no heat shock or 48 h after heat shock treatment. The step-through latency of either pre- or post-training administration of scopolamine in rats 16 h after heat shock treatment was significantly higher than those of the rats receiving no heat shock or 48 h after heat shock treatment. However, rats, 16 h after heat shock treatment and having been given scopolamine, performed no better than rats treated only with scopolamine. Hence, the present results indicate that heat shock has a protective, but not therapeutic, effect on the memory impairment induced by scopolamine by overexpression of HSP72 in rat brain.

Amnesia↗

Effect of acidic oligosaccharide sugar chain on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in rats and its related mechanisms.

In this study we evaluated the effect of a novel, marine-derived, acidic oligosaccharide on scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats using the Morris water maze test. The results show that 30-day administration of this oligosaccharide, referred to as acidic oligosaccharide sugar chain (AOSC), to rats attenuates memory impairment by scopolamine, as evaluated by shortened escape latency, swimming distance, and increased swimming time of rats with memory impairment induced by scopolamine in the quadrant where the platform is placed. The data additionally suggest that an appropriate dose of scopolamine, a traditional muscarinic receptor antagonist, elevates oxidative damage in brain, characterized by inactivation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and consequently, inhibition of ATPase in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. AOSC ameliorates oxidative injuries caused by scopolamine by increasing the activities of SOD, GSH-Px, and ATPase. Further investigation by flow cytometry revealed that AOSC significantly reduces the overloading of intracellular free calcium ion ([Ca2+]i), thus suppressing apoptosis induced by H2O2 in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. These findings suggest that AOSC can induce cognitive improvement via its antioxidant activity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗